HC Advisory Committee Meeting Notes
10.2.14
3:30-5:00
Board Room
· Committee members in attendance:
o Jeff McCormick, Carrie Strayer, Juliet Shier, Cheryl Cain, Judy Levine, Janette Dodge, Stephanie Stevens, Sam Cameron, Kristin Collins, Catherine DeLorey Jana Walter, Kristin Haizlip, Kate Garfield, Sheryl Belt, Emma Steger. Elizabeth Cromwell, Mev Hoberg, and Rod Stevens attended as observers to the process.
· Norms for the committee:
o Communication inside and outside of committee
§ Respect for others’ time, no “parking lot” conversations (clarifying discussion), everyone has the right to be heard, no side conversations, we start and end on time, we stick to the agenda
o Meeting notes and agendas:
§ Carrie will be the note-taker for the group. Jeff will post meeting notes online.
§ Committee members prefer to receive agendas and other items to be considered in advance, when possible.
· Update:
o New student assessment:
§ Letters were mailed to parents of new BISD students informing them of the upcoming CogAT testing. Parents who wish to have their child take the CogAT had to return both a nomination form and a permission to test form by September 24. Juliet mentioned the letter needs to be reviewed and improved.
§ Juliet has completed testing at BHS, will test at Commodore and Woodward next week
§ Carrie has completed testing at Wilkes, and, provided the additional tests that were ordered arrive, will finish Blakely, Ordway, and Sakai next week. They are assisting one another with test administration.
§ Kindergarten testing in December, to be scheduled
o HC specialists: to date, Carrie and Juliet have:
§ created a brochure outlining their support options for staff, flow charts detailing the qualification process for the district website, and a Monday Menu of professional development possibilities
§ surveyed staff members in order to develop a meaningful, reasonable plan for HC students
§ observed in classrooms and begun meeting with students
§ completed testing preparation and begun testing administration
§ revised the BISD Individual Learning Plan
§ designed ILP training for staff members
§ completed ILP training for teachers of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade HC students
o Kristin observed that the ILP has been improved to be a living document that is more teacher, student and parent friendly.
o Jeff explained that the ILP will follow the student throughout their BISD career and our expectation is that it will improve services to our HC students.
o Jana asked if 5th & 6th grade teachers would be receiving the ILP training. No training is scheduled as it was our understanding that the 5-8 teachers wanted to stay with the “old” form. We discussed the possibility of having 5-8 teachers use the same ILP form. Most committee members agreed that it would be best for all K-8 teachers to use the same form. Jeff will approach Sakai & Woodward and offer the revised ILP document and training.
o Questions arose as to whether the draft of the new ILP had been shared with everyone and when it was shared. Carrie reported that the draft was shared with all certificated staff and principals on Sept. 9, via Google Drive, with comments enabled and feedback encouraged. Few responses were received.
· Staff and parent committee members:
o Establishing membership tenure
§ Jeff suggested a two-year tenure on a rotating schedule so that we are not all leaving at the same time. Discussion as to whether the tenure should be longer.
o Jeff called for a vote for staff and committee members to serve a 2-year commitment with an option to extend for an additional year. Proposal passed.
§ Jeff proposed one parent per school on the committee. Discussion as to the number of parents who should serve from Commodore.
o Jeff called for a vote for one parent per school, with Commodore being represented as 3 separate schools. Proposal passed.
· Major activities/goals for the year:
o Increasing communication
o Review timelines and nomination process
o Make recommendation for spring testing
o Review current measures being used to identify HC students
o Review ILP process
o Discuss current delivery model of services for HC students
o Prepare for spring nomination
o Review processes from 2014-15 and make recommendations for 2015-16
· Assignments to be completed before our next meeting:
o Read the following documents and be prepared to discuss their recommendations:
§ Board Policy concerning Highly Capable students
§ OSPI Annual Report
§ Jayasri Ghosh’s report